Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I also wish to place on the record my deepest sympathy to the husband and family of Savita Halappanavar. We cannot even begin to comprehend the grief and heartache that they are now experiencing. While we acknowledge that the HSE is going to conduct an inquiry, I am conscious of the fact that her family are deeply unhappy with that inquiry. What seems to have happened is that in its usual blundering and insensitive manner, the Government and the Minister announced an inquiry without any real consultation with the family of the deceased. Have we learned nothing about dealing with tragedies and victims in this country?

The Supreme Court judgment in the X case in 1992 said very clearly that a pregnant woman had a constitutional right to a termination if there was a real and substantial risk to her life. The details of that case were extremely upsetting. Here was a 14 year old girl who was pregnant as a result of rape by an older man. A senior clinical psychologist provided testimony in the High Court that she was suicidal not because she was depressed but because she had reached the conclusion that death offered the best solution to her problems.

That a child would have to go through that is shocking in itself but what struck me about the case at the time was the cold contempt with which the victim and her family were treated by the State and its institutions. Her parents contacted the Garda asking if DNA evidence would be helpful in the prosecution of the rapist. This reasonable request eventually filtered back to the Attorney General's office. Her distraught parents were told that the child was to be brought back to Ireland without having had an abortion, as if she and her body were the property of the State. Had the political, legal and medical establishment a more humane attitude to this girl in 1992, we may not have found ourselves in this situation today. Some 20 years on, seven successive governments have failed to introduce any legal framework that will protect a family and a child facing this awful dilemma.

We are left with a situation where women have no idea of the circumstances under which they may be legally entitled to a termination and it seems the members of the medical profession have no clear idea of when they can perform one. They are left to make a judgment call as the watchful eyes of the political establishment forces them to gamble with women's lives. If they make the wrong decision, they could be subject to prosecution under the Offences Against the Person Act of 1861. A woman who attempts to induce her own miscarriage, and it is only a woman in the most desperate of situations who would attempt this, could end up sentenced to life in penal servitude.

People who are opposed to the introduction of this legislation have been very vocal in saying that we do not know the full circumstances in the Savita case and we need to wait for the outcome of the HSE investigation. This is true but the finger of blame should not be pointed anywhere other than at this Government and past Governments which have failed to provide legislation for this issue. There is the potential that there was medical negligence in the Savita case but how long do we have to wait to legislate to protect women and girls? There should be no martyrs for law reform in this area.

Thousands of people took to the streets across Ireland and the rest of the world to demonstrate their genuine grief and utter shock at what happened. Two passed referendums and thousands of people out on the streets should make absolutely clear to the Government that the people of Ireland will not wait any longer for legislation for the X case. Our job as Deputies is to legislate and to give leadership and we must ensure no more families and children are abandoned as in the X case.

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